[1.0.5] RemoteTech XF [RemoteTech v.1.6.9]

93 posts in this topic

RemoteTech XF is a variant of RemoteTech, made either for people that want a slightly more forgiving experience or for those that want to drop RemoteTech into an existing game and be able to use their existing satellites/probes.

It makes one minor change that has major implications: antennas are always controllable by the player, even without a connection to Mission Control. This allows the player to simulate what real-life probes do when something unexpected happens: they try to re-establish a connection with home! It's handy for...

Retracting antennas during aerobraking and extending them when you're done!

Recovering from mistakes (whoops, Comsat1 just blew up!).

Adding RemoteTech to an existing game (since when you load them up for the first time, all the probes have their antennas turned off).

Besides making it more forgiving, activating and pointing antennas without a connection is also (arguably) more realistic. In real life, probes have low-gain omni-directional antennas that allow space agencies to easily send simple commands across the solar system (like, "point your main dish over here") and probes generally have the intelligence to attempt to re-establish connection if they lose it. In some ways, standard RemoteTech is less forgiving of simple mistakes than real life interplanetary networks! That was my reason for creating XF.

It also fixes the issue RemoteTech has when being added into games that are already in progress. Specifically, since antennas on pre-existing probes are deactivated, these probes end up dead in space, even if you set up a interplanetary network later! Again, the simple act of allowing the user to activate antennas without connection to KSC fixes this! You'll need to set up your network, but once it's up, your existing probes can connect to it!

A: I did. They rejected the pull request, which is to say they don't want this as an option (even one disabled by default). Hey, it's their mod and they can do what they want. But fortunately, their project is open source, and that means anyone can tweak it, so THANK YOU RemoteTech, for having an open source project!

Q: I want to use RemoteTech XF to bootstrap an existing campaign, but then switch to a regular RemoteTech game.

A: No problem! You can always just install the regular RemoteTech back over top XF. Or you can just add this to the RemoteTech_Settings.cfg file to revert to normal RemoteTech mode: Ã¢â‚¬â€¹

ControlAntennaWithoutConnection = False

Q: Thank you so much, this is awesome!

A: You're welcome, but it's really the main RemoteTech devs that deserve all the thanks. RemoteTech is fabulously complex and a lot of people have put a lot of work into it. And they made it open source, which is freakin' awesome. They didn't have to do that, but they did, and that lets anyone else make their own little tweaks. So for a variety of reasons, they're the best, and I'm just a hack who made one little change.

Q: What else should I do to make RemoteTech more fun?

A: I can't suggest enough that you enable Root mode for antenna ranges. You can check out the details in the player's guide. But basically it lets omnidirectional antennas get a lot more range when they're communicating with more powerful antennas (like real life!). I also run with the power consumption halved on my game. Especially in the early game, when you just have the static solar panels, the dishes consume way too much juice. Oh, and unless you want to use MechJeb or KOS, you probably want to turn off speed of light. There's a lot of impossible stuff in Kerbal Space Program already, so I don't think it's a stretch to say that in their universe, light moves infinitely fast.

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No, I'm not sure if the models in vanilla RemoteTech are open source, so I can't redistribute them. So you first have to download the regular RemoteTech and install XF over top of it. I updated the post above to make that clear. Thanks.

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No, I'm not sure if the models in vanilla RemoteTech are open source, so I can't redistribute them. So you first have to download the regular RemoteTech and install XF over top of it. I updated the post above to make that clear. Thanks.

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RemoteTech is realistically unforgiving, but without the real life algorithms/procedures to deal with that.

When confronted with such dilemmas, as the author of the SETI-BalanceMod I tend to balance realistic gameplay restrictions (like not having fall back procedures, like energy savings) with realism restrictions (like the ability to turn batteries on and off without connection) to keep the game fun.

This mod fits nicely in that scheme.

While you are at it, have you considered setting the default signal delay to false in the options?

That would essentially go in the same direction, preferring gameplay usability (of probes) over total realism.

And people could turn it on, if they want the hardcore experience (in which case, they would probably not download RT-XF in the first place).

Edited January 26, 2015 by Yemo

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This is something that I suggest at least 2 times in the old remote tech topic.

Yeah, is silly that the probes has not an inside algorithm to search signals and deploy the antennas, so yes, we need to be able to deploy antennas and point them as many times we want (if we have electrical power?)

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This sounds great!! One question I didn't see answered though. In the description it said it only allows activating antenna's without a connection, but in the reasoning talked about pointing the dish. Does this also allow the a dish target to be selected without a connection as well as activation?

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If this had only come a bit sooner I could of save myself a lot of hardship and cash duna probe push in orbit dropped stage deorbit burn switch back "SIGH" launch new probe to dock with old dead probe.

So quick question if I get this right installing this will make old dead probe not so dead any more.

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While you are at it, have you considered setting the default signal delay to false in the options?

That would essentially go in the same direction, preferring gameplay usability (of probes) over total realism.

And people could turn it on, if they want the hardcore experience (in which case, they would probably not download RT-XF in the first place).

I like that idea, and unless you want to learn KOS or use MechJeb, it's probably required, but I'm also internally debating that. After all, these are settings that people can already change.

Does the probe need to have EC left to activate an antenna/change the direction?

Yes, you still have to have electric charge.

Great mod man

If this had only come a bit sooner I could of save myself a lot of hardship and cash duna probe push in orbit dropped stage deorbit burn switch back "SIGH" launch new probe to dock with old dead probe.

So quick question if I get this right installing this will make old dead probe not so dead any more.

Yes. If your dead probe was dead just because the antenna was deactivated, yeah. You could have switched back to the old dead probe and turned them on.

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Funny, this is only like... the best update to RemoteTech ever. I remember when old RemoteTech was actually like this, and it was super fun, then they changed it. Today launching satellites is always a nerve-wracking business, always watching altitude and orbit, checking distances to other antennas, making sure I have something pointed at me before I have even launched anything lol. Lost many satellites...

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So wait, what exactly does this do differently than remote tech? It just allow you to open antenna and redirect antenna without a two way connection?

Yes, literally that's it. If your probe has no connection because the antennas are turned off, you can activate them (and, if it's a dish, point it in the right direction). It's a teeny tiny change that has very big gameplay implications. There's, like, five lines of code different.

Funny, this is only like... the best update to RemoteTech ever. I remember when old RemoteTech was actually like this, and it was super fun, then they changed it. Today launching satellites is always a nerve-wracking business, always watching altitude and orbit, checking distances to other antennas, making sure I have something pointed at me before I have even launched anything lol. Lost many satellites...

Thank you very much Mr. Pharylon. Please don't disappear.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! But I want to reiterate how little my change is, and how awesome RemoteTech is. RemoteTech is fabulously complex and a lot of people have put a lot of work into it. And they made it open source, which is freakin' awesome. They didn't have to do that, but they did, and that lets anyone else make their own little tweaks. So for a variety of reasons, they're the best, and I'm just a hack who made one little change.

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I had a request to compile a version using the RemoteTech 1.7.0 branch (the RemoteTech devs currently have it in a pre-release phase, but it fixes a few bugs), so I made it available on my Github page. The main release is still the 1.6.2 version, and I haven't tested the 1.7.0 version myself, but it should be fine. Let me know if you try it and you run into anything.